Horror Hotel

Whilst most of us are getting into the Christmas spirit and preparing our list of New Year’s resolutions, developer Relax Gaming are stuck in the Halloween rut. After their success in 2022 with releases like Money Train 3, the team are preparing for their next one, and it’s a spooky one. Don’t let the timing of this one put you off it though, as it comes loaded with enticing statistics. Namely, a highly (5/5) volatile maths model, a fixed RTP of 96.17%, and win potential up to 20,000x bet. Think Santa’s Stack meets Halloween, and you’ll find you’re closer than you think to Horror Hotel.

Horror Hotel Base Game

Well… Horror seems about right. We’re in an eerie graveyard at night, with skulls, fog, headstones, creepy branches and a full moon setting the scene of tension. In the background, the ‘horror hotel’ sits upon the hill with a few lights on to indicate that someone might be home – probably not someone you’d want to bump into though, especially not in a dark graveyard at night. Audios further set the scene, although also further enhance the kind of Halloween feeling, which again has us wondering why this release is coming in the New Year. Still, we’re not one to question a studio of Relax Gaming‘s calibre.

Match Clusters of 5 or More Symbols to Form Wins

Horror Hotel Base Features

Taking place on a 6×6 grid, wins are formed on Horror Hotel by matching clusters of 5 or more symbols, touching horizontally or vertically. Symbols pay in clusters of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10+, 12+, 15+, 20+, 25+, 30+, or 35+, and being with non premiums – three potion bottles that are blue, green, and red in colour. Land clusters of 5 potion bottles to see wins of 0.10x bet, increasing to 500x bet wins for clusters of 35+. At the premium end, we have a mummy, a werewolf, and Frankenstein. Land clusters of 5 of any premium to see wins of 0.30x bet, increasing to wins of 1,500x bet in size for clusters of 35+. The highest paying symbol available is the Dracula symbol, awarding wins of 1x bet for clusters of 5, increasing to 5,000x bet wins for clusters of 35+. Finally, Wild symbols are available, substituting for all symbols except Bonus Symbols.

Mystery Symbol Feature

There’s only one main feature acting as the driving force behind Horror Hotel, although this is normally the case with Relax Gaming who opt to keep things simple in their games – the Mystery Symbol feature. After any win occurs, the winning cluster of symbols (including any Wilds, if relevant) will transform into Mystery Symbols and award a re-spin. The winning cluster is transformed before the re-spin occurs, with all non-winning symbols being destroyed.

Mystery Symbols will all reveal the same paying symbol when the new symbols land during the re-spin. If any new cluster wins are formed, or a non-converted symbol contributes to the win formed by the Mystery Symbols, all winning symbols will then again be transformed into Mystery Symbols, with another re-spin awarded. This continues until no new wins are formed, or no new matching symbols are adjacent to the winning reveal, thus contributing to its’ win.

Mystery Symbols Reveal The Same Symbol

Horror Hotel Bonus

Land 3 or more skull styled bell Bonus Symbols to trigger 5 Free Spins, with one additional spin awarded for every Bonus Symbol beyond the third. During Free Spins, one additional Wild symbol is awarded for each spin.

Aside from this, things continue as normal during Free Spins, with the Mystery Symbol feature remaining active. In addition to what would happen during the base game, there is also a win multiplier, which increments by +1 before any new win converts to Mystery Symbols. Finally, each Bonus Symbol that lands will award an additional +1 spins.

Horror Hotel Free Spins

Players in appropriate regions can skip straight to the action with the Buy Feature option. For a cost of 100x bet, players guarantee Free Spins will be triggered.

The maximum win available in Horror Hotel is 20,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 20,000x bet will be awarded.

Horror Hotel Free Spins

First Impression

In spite of only one main feature, Horror Hotel holds its own. This in itself is somewhat of a staple of Relax Gaming and their style – keep it simple, but pack a punch with what you do offer. Horror Hotel is, obviously, a follow on from Santa’s Stack, but offers a few differences – enough to keep things exciting with a unique element to it. The first example of this is in the fact that rather than any gaps being filled in with Mystery Symbols, all converted symbols drop to the bottom of the grid. Additionally, the multiplier increments for each conversion, rather than requiring symbols to land.

Similarities do exist of course, like one additional Wild landing for every spin of the feature – which incidentally is where things get really exciting. When the right combinations land, wins are possible up to 20,000x bet. That said, maths is highly (5/5) volatile, so don’t expect an easy ride.

The last thing to cover is RTP, which is fixed at 96.17%. And that’s it. I could go on, but with such a straightforward release, there’s no need to overdo it. If you’re looking for something simple yet potent, Horror Hotel is the one for you.

*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.